


Respectful Greetings

by LovelyLessie



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Epistolary, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-11
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-16 23:38:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2288852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyLessie/pseuds/LovelyLessie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short series of letters between Vanda Maksimova (on behalf of herself and her brother) and Mr Erik Lensherr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_7 June, 1974_  

_Respectful greetings, Mr Lensherr;_

_My name is Vanda Maksimova, and I am writing to you on behalf of myself and my brother Petro._

_We wish to inquire as to whether you have ever been an acquaintance of one Magda Lensherr, native to Bulgaria. It has come to our attention that you may have known her, or our father Max to whom you bear some resemblance._

_(Should you wish for proof, we are in possession of one photograph of both Magda and our father, before his death; we would send a copy with this message but it is 3 leva to make one and we do not have much money now.)_

_If you have time we would like to ask that you please respond to this letter and let us know if you are familiar with either our mother or father. We have a post box in Pleven which we have listed as our return address. We do not know how long this letter will take to reach you or when you will be able to respond but we will check this post box frequently so please answer as soon as you can._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Vanda and Petro M._


	2. Chapter 2

June 16, 1974

_Greetings;_

_I received your letter and am if nothing else intrigued by what you have told me. I was in the past well acquainted with Magda Lensherr; I have not seen or spoken to her in many years and had not hoped to have an opportunity._

_You claim to be her children. When I knew her she did not have children - but it is of course possible that after we lost touch she did._

_I presume that the Max you claim is your father was Max Eisenhardt?_

_I should admit that I am ill inclined to believe your claims, but curious enough that I would like to see your evidence. Enclosed you will find 5 Bulgarian leva, which you may use to make a copy of your photograph. You may send it to the listed return address, which will ensure it does not go through my staff before reaching me._

_Regards,_

_Erik Lensherr_


	3. Chapter 3

  _June 22, 1974_

_Greetings, Mr Lensherr;_

_Thank you very much for writing back to us. We are both very grateful for your time._

_We assure you that Magda is our mother; you will find a copy of the photograph of her with our father enclosed. Should you want further evidence we could tell you more about her, if that would help; unfortunately we too have lost touch with her and do not know where she can be found at present._

_(I realize this does not make us any more convincing but I think it is important that we are honest with you regarding the situation, and hope you will see this as an effort to be up front, rather than an excuse.)_

_We both assumed our father had the Lensherr surname, as our mother took it; she just called him Max so maybe we were wrong. He died before we were born so we only know him from pictures but we saw your picture in the paper also and it looks very much like him._

_Petro kindly cut out the article and said we should include it so I have enclosed that as well. (I would like to apologize because it is not very nice.)_

_I’m very sorry that this letter is so long and want to thank you for taking the time to read it and reply._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Vanda and Petro M._

 

* * *

 

[[Wedding photograph (photocopied) - 1954](http://autasha.tumblr.com/post/97262060225/photograph-of-erik-and-magda-lensherr-taken-at)]

[[Newspaper Clipping, June 2 1974](http://autasha.tumblr.com/post/97634145735/petro-needs-to-not-be-allowed-to-keep-things-in)]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The newspaper article is titled "Mutant terrorist known as Magneto allowed by USA to deliver speech." It's about how this dangerous activist has declared himself the leader of mutant freaks and is corrupting the world with his army of genetic abnormalities. Apologies for the formatting errors and for whatever translation mistakes there are.
> 
> Also, the links below the images have full-sized views; the photograph also includes two alternate versions of the artwork.
> 
> (All art is also by me.)


	4. Chapter 4

_July 2, 1974_

_Greetings._

_I received your letter, as well as the picture and the article. Thank you very much for sending them to me. I hope the money I sent was sufficient._

_I admit I had not expected I would ever see that picture again. The twentieth anniversary of my marriage to your mother was very recent - several weeks before you first wrote to me._ _Max Eisenhardt was my name, for a very long time; I chose another as a young man before Magda and I married, but she had known me for much longer than I’d been Erik Lensherr._

_I had believed her dead, before your letter came to me; though fifteen years is more than long enough to grieve, I am glad to know that she survived. I wish that I had known then._

_I would very much like to meet you, Vanda and Petro, if you would be so willing. I will cover all expenses, should you choose to accept the offer._

_Please, if you are able to get in touch with your mother, tell her that we have been in contact, and that she is in my thoughts._

_Yours,_

_Erik Lensherr._


	5. Chapter 5

_July 10, 1974_

_Dear Mr Lensherr,_

_Petro and I have discussed your offer at length, and come to the conclusion that we would like to meet you also. We have some conditions however._

_Firstly that our expenses will include separate lodging for the two of us; a single hotel room will suffice. It does not have to be an expensive hotel room._

_Secondly that we will first meet you on neutral ground and in a public space. I do not wish to appear untrusting but please understand that our safety is our highest priority. We have decided that this is the best way to ensure our protection._

_Please write back quickly if you agree so that we can make plans._

_Yours,_

_Vanda and Petro_


End file.
